Original Source: https://ecommerce-platforms.com/articles/contrado-review

In today’s Contrado review, I’ll be taking a behind-the-scenes look at one of the top print-on-demand alternatives to Printify and Printful for UK sellers.

Contrado is a fantastic solution for creative entrepreneurs and individuals who need help designing unique fabrics, clothing, accessories, and even home and wall art.

Alongside offering rapid production times of just 1-2 days, Contrado also produces sustainable and ethical goods, that align with the priorities of today’s consumers.

Here, I’ll guide you through what you can accomplish with Contrado as a print-on-demand business, the pricing for its products and services, and more.

Quick Verdict

I consider Contrado to be an excellent print on demand solution for creators in the UK. It offers more than 450 products to choose from, an easy-to-use design tool, and exceptional high-quality fabrics.

Plus, it promises rapid production and delivery times, making it easy to delight your customers. The biggest downside is its limited integrations with ecommerce platforms.

What is Contrado and How Does it Work?

Contrado is a print on demand company that allows creators to design custom fabrics, home products, clothing, and accessories, and outsource production and fulfillment to their UK-based team.

Like most POD companies, Contrado doesn’t impose any minimum order quantities on creators. All products are produced “on demand” when your customer places an order.

Currently, Contrado has more than 450 products to choose from, including sustainable and eco-friendly items, and it offers access to an excellent, easy-to-use design tool. It can also offer rapid production and fulfillment times, getting some products to customers in around 5 business days.

With Contrado, you don’t have to pay a monthly fee or even sign up for an account to use the service. You can simply choose the product you want to customize from the company’s collection, and click “start design” to begin customizing your product.

Notably, although Contrado is based in the UK, it does offer worldwide delivery to a range of countries, including the USA. Plus, there’s an “artist marketplace”, where users can list their products alongside other items from independent creators. This means you don’t necessarily need to create your own store to start selling.

How Much Does it Cost?

Contrado doesn’t charge any monthly fees to creators. You don’t even need to sign up for an account to start creating products. All you pay for is the base price of your item, any customization costs, and the shipping fees (if you’re not charging those to your customers).

From what I could see, Contrado’s prices are a little higher than what you might expect from most print on demand companies. I think the reason for this is that Contrado specializes in “all over print”, which means you get more “premium” looking items.

The price of a t-shirt, for instance, starts at around $38.95, although Contrado does regularly offer discounts on some of its products. Additionally, there are volume and wholesale discounts available, as well as the option to get 20% off if you’re a student.

Delivery prices also vary depending on where you are in the world. If you’re based in the UK, prices start at £2.49 for tracked, standard shipping (1-3 days). There’s also the option for next-day delivery, Saturday deliveries, and click and collect.

If your customers are in the US, however, standard delivery starts at $9.95 (2-4 days), or you can upgrade to express delivery for $15.94.

Design Tools and Features

Creating a custom product with Contrado is pretty straightforward. All you need to do is visit the website, and click on the item you want to customize. Virtually all of Contrado’s products are sustainably printed, and can include a custom label for branding.

Once you click the “Start Design” button on the product page, you’ll automatically be taken to Contrado’s simple design tool. You can choose the fit of your product, packaging options, design options, thread colors, and even add your own label:

There’s also some handy design tools, including a library of clip art and pattern options to choose from. Once you’ve chosen your design, you can experiment with text and placement, then preview your design and add it to your cart.

Notably, there’s not much of a “mockup generator” available here. You can see a 360-degree image of your product, but you can’t see it in “lifestyle” photos like you’d be able to with something like Printful.

Once you’ve completed your design, you can add it to your shopping bag, and choose your delivery options. It’s as simple as that.

Alongside simple design tools, Contrado also offers access to a few extra features, such as:

Standard and express delivery options.

Custom packaging and label printing

A profit calculator to help you choose the right product prices

Product Options and Quality

In terms of product options, Contrado offers around 450 products to customize. There’s even the option to print your own fabrics if you want to create products from scratch yourself. With fabric printing, you also have a range of printing methods to choose from, such as reactive printing, pigment printing, and sublimation printing.

You can also design custom labels, swatch packs and color charts, leather and card swing tags, transfer paper designs, and more. Some of the popular products offered by Contrado include:

Wall art and wallpaper (framed prints, canvas prints, and metal prints)

Kitchen and dining products (cookware, glassware, kitchen accessories)

Home furnishings (bedding, blankets, rugs, curtains, and stationery)

Women’s clothing (Tops, t-shirts, dresses, footwear, swimwear, and more)

Men’s clothing (T-shirts, jackets, footwear, sportswear, and button-up shirts)

Kid’s accessories (Baby sleeping bags, blankets, teddy bears, and bids)

Women’s accessories (purses, wallets, leather bags, socks, and scarves)

Men’s accessories (Ties, wallets, suitcases, pocket squares, cufflinks)

Contrado actually offers a wide selection of unique products you won’t find from more print on demand vendors, making it an excellent way to differentiate yourself in the growing market. However, the prices for those products are pretty high.

From what I can tell, Contrado uses exceptional high-quality materials, and sustainable inks for all of its products. It also has excellent reviews for crisp, clean, and beautiful prints.

However, there’s no option to order a discounted sample of your products, which makes it difficult to verify the quality for yourself.

Contrado Selling Options and Integrations

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find many ways to actually connect your Contrado products to third-party marketplaces and ecommerce platforms. The only integration I could find was one for Shopify, which allows you to automatically add the products from your Contrado account to Shopify, and use the solution for automated dropshipping.

Outside of using Shopify with Contrado, the only way to order and sell products is to purchase them through Contrado directly and ship them straight to your customer. This means you’ll need to place every order manually, which can be time consuming as your business starts to scale.

Notably, however, you can purchase products wholesale, or in bulk, for a discount, so there is an option to purchase more products yourself, store them and ship them to your customers manually, but this might not be an appealing choice for those who want the simplicity of the standard print on demand experience.

Alternatively, you can always use the Contrado marketplace to showcase your products alongside other creators, but this does mean you’ll have to compete for attention against other sellers.

Contrado Customer Support

Like most print on demand vendors, Contrado offers a few options for customer support. First, there’s a basic help center where you can find some information about connecting Contrado to Shopify, managing products, and automating certain aspects of your POD business.

You can also connect with the team directly through their live chat feature, check your order status on the website, and reach out via phone, between the hours of 6pm to 2:30am EST.

Unfortunately, there’s no 24/7 support option, which might be a problem, particularly if you’re located outside of the UK, where the opening hours are a little unusual. Still, if you do manage to catch the team online, then you should expect an answer to your questions pretty quickly.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Easy to use and intuitive design tools

Wide range of unique product options

Exceptional printing and production quality

Lots of printing options

Plenty of branding solutions (such as custom labels)

Rapid fulfillment and delivery times

Cons:

Expensive pricing for most products

Shipping options can vary outside of the UK

Limited customer support outside of the UK

Not many integration options

Contrado Review: The Verdict

Ultimately, I think Contrado is an excellent solution or print on demand sellers in the UK that want access to high-quality and unique products, produced and delivered rapidly to customers. It also has excellent design tools and resources that make it easy to launch your POD brand.

However, it does have some downsides, such as expensive product pricing, and limited integrations with platforms outside of Shopify.

If you’re located outside of the UK, or you want to sell your products on a range of different channels, I’d recommend considering options like Printful or Printify instead. Those companies can also offer slightly cheaper products, although it’s worth noting that the product quality for any POD provider can vary.

The post Contrado Print on Demand Review: The Complete Guide for 2024 appeared first on Ecommerce Platforms.

Original Source: https://smashingmagazine.com/2024/06/how-improve-microcopy-ux-writing-tips-non-ux-writers/

Throughout my UX writing career, I’ve held many different roles: a UX writer in a team of UX writers, a solo UX writer replacing someone who left, the first and only UX writer at a company, and even a teacher at a UX writing course, where I reviewed more than 100 home assignments. And oh gosh, what I’ve seen.

Crafting microcopy is not everyone’s strong suit, and it doesn’t have to be. Still, if you’re a UX designer, product manager, analyst, or marketing content writer working in a small company, on an MVP, or on a new product, you might have to get by without a UX writer. So you have the extra workload of creating microcopy. Here are some basic rules that will help you create clear and concise copy and run a quick health check on your designs.

Ensure Your Interface Copy Is Role-playable
Why it’s important:
To create a friendly, conversational experience;To work out a consistent interaction pattern.

When crafting microcopy, think of the interface as a dialog between your product and your user, where:

Titles, body text, tooltips, and so on are your “phrases.”
Button labels, input fields, toggles, menu items, and other elements that can be tapped or selected are the user’s “phrases.”

Ideally, you should be able to role-play your interface copy: a product asks the user to do something — the user does it; a product asks for information — the user types it in or selects an item from the menu; a product informs or warns the user about something — the user takes action.

For example, if your screen is devoted to an event and the CTA is for the user to register, you should opt for a button label like “Save my spot” rather than “Save your spot.” This way, when a user clicks the button, it’s as if they are pronouncing the phrase themselves, which resonates with their thoughts and intentions.

Be Especially Transparent And Clear When It Comes To Sensitive Topics
Why it’s important: To build trust and loyalty towards your product.

Some topics, such as personal data, health, or money, are extremely sensitive for people. If your product involves any limitations, peculiarities, or possible negative outcomes related to these sensitive topics, you should convey this information clearly and unequivocally. You will also need to collaborate with your UX/UI Designer closely to ensure you deliver this information in a timely manner and always make it visible without requiring the user to take additional actions (e.g., don’t hide it in tooltips that are only shown by tapping).

Here’s a case from my work experience. For quite some time, I’ve been checking homework assignments for a UX writing course. In this course, all the tasks have revolved around an imaginary app for dog owners. One of the tasks students worked on was creating a flow for booking a consultation with a dog trainer. The consultation had to be paid in advance. In fact, the money was blocked on the user’s bank card and charged three hours before the consultation. That way, a user could cancel the meeting for free no later than three hours before the start time. A majority of the students added this information as a tooltip on the checkout screen; if a user didn’t tap on it, they wouldn’t be warned about the possibility of losing money.

In a real-life situation, this would cause immense negativity from users: they may post about it on social media, and it will show the company in a bad light. Even if you occasionally resort to dark patterns, make sure you can afford any reputational risks.

So, when creating microcopy on sensitive topics:

Be transparent and honest about all the processes and conditions. For example, you’re a fintech service working with other service providers. Because of that, you have fees built into transactions but don’t know the exact amount. Explain to users how the fees are calculated, their approximate range (if possible), and where users can see more precise info.
Reassure users that you’ll be extremely careful with their data. Explain why you need their data, how you will use it, store and protect it from breaches, and so on.
If some restrictions or limitations are implied, provide options to remove them (if possible).

Ensure That The Button Label Accurately Reflects What Happens Next
Why it’s important:
To make your interface predictable, trustworthy, and reliable;To prevent user frustration.

The button label should reflect the specific action that occurs when the user clicks or taps it.

It might seem valid to use a button label that reflects the user’s goal or target action, even if it actually happens a bit later. For example, if your product allows users to book accommodations for vacations or business trips, you might consider using a “Book now” button in the booking flow. However, if tapping it leads the user to an order screen where they need to select a room, fill out personal details, and so on, the accommodation is not booked immediately. So you might want to opt for “Show rooms,” “Select a rate,” or another button label that better reflects what happens next.

Moreover, labels like “Buy now” or “Book now” might seem too pushy and even off-putting (especially when it comes to pricey products involving a long decision-making process), causing users to abandon your website or app in favor of ones with buttons that create the impression they can browse peacefully for as long as they need. You might want to let your users “Explore,” “Learn more,” “Book a call,” or “Start a free trial” first.

As a product manager or someone with a marketing background, you might want to create catchy and fancy button labels to boost conversion rates. For instance, when working on an investment app, you might label a button for opening a brokerage account as “Become an investor.” While this might appeal to users’ egos, it can also come across as pretentious and cheap. Additionally, after opening an account, users may still need to do many things to actually become investors, which can be frustrating. Opt for a straightforward “Open an account” button instead.

In this regard, it’s better not to promise users things that we can’t guarantee or that aren’t entirely up to us. For example, in a flow that includes an OTP password, it’s better to opt for the “Send a code” button rather than “Get a code” since we can’t guarantee there won’t be any network outages or other issues preventing the user from receiving an SMS or a push notification.

Finally, avoid using generic “Yes” or “No” buttons as they do not clearly reflect what happens next. Users might misread the text above or fail to notice a negation, leading to unexpected outcomes. For example, when asking for a confirmation, such as “Are you sure you want to quit?” you might want to go with button labels like “Quit” and “Stay” rather than just “Yes” and “No.”

Tip: If you have difficulty coming up with a button label, this may be a sign that the screen is poorly organized or the flow lacks logic and coherence. For example, a user has to deal with too many different entities and types of tasks on one screen, so the action can’t be summarized with just one verb. Or perhaps a subsequent flow has a lot of variations, making it hard to describe the action a user should take. In such cases, you might want to make changes to the screen (say, break it down into several screens) or the flow (say, add a qualifying question or attribute earlier so that the flow would be less branching).

Make It Clear To The User Why They Need To Perform The Action
Why it’s important:
To create transparency and build trust;To boost conversion rates.

An ideal interface is self-explanatory and needs no microcopy. However, sometimes, we need to convince users to do something for us, especially when it involves providing personal information or interacting with third-party products.

You can use the following formula: “To [get this], do [this] + UI element to make it happen.” For example, “To get your results, provide your email,” followed by an input field.

It’s better to provide the reasoning (“to get your results”) first and then the instructions (“provide your email” ): this way, the guidance is more likely to stick in the user’s memory, smoothly leading to the action. If you reverse the order — giving the instructions first and then the reasoning — the user might forget what they need to do and will have to reread the beginning of the sentence, leading to a less smooth and slightly hectic experience.

Ensure The UI Element Copy Doesn’t Explain How To Interact With This Very Element
Why it’s important:
If you need to explain how to interact with a UI element, it may be a sign that the interface is not intuitive;Risk omitting or not including more important, useful text.

Every now and then, I come across meaningless placeholders or excessive toggle copy that explains how to interact with the field or toggle. The most frequent example is the “Search” placeholder for a search field. Occasionally, I see button labels like “Press to continue.”

Mobile and web interfaces have been around for quite a while, and users understand how to interact with buttons, toggles, and fields. Therefore, explanations such as “click,” “tap,” “enter,” and so on seem excessive in most cases. Perhaps it’s only with a group of checkboxes that you might add something like “Select up to 5.”

You might want to add something more useful. For example, instead of a generic “Search” placeholder for a search field, use specific instances a user might type in. If you’re a fashion marketplace, try placeholders like “oversized hoodies,” “women’s shorts,” and so on. Keep in mind the specifics of your website or app: ensure the placeholder is neither too broad nor too specific, and if a user types something like you’ve provided, their search will be successful.

Stick To The Rule “1 Microcopy Item = 1 Idea”
Why it’s important:
Not to create extra cognitive load, confusion, or friction;To ensure a smooth and simple experience.

Users have short attention spans, scan text instead of reading it thoroughly, and can’t process multiple ideas simultaneously. That’s why it’s crucial to break information down into easily digestible chunks instead of, for example, trying to squeeze all the restrictions into one tooltip.

The golden rule is to provide users only with the information they need at this particular stage to take a specific action or make a decision.

You’ll need to collaborate closely with your designer to ensure the information is distributed over the screen evenly and you don’t overload one design element with a lot of text.

Be Careful With Titles Like “Done,” “Almost There,” “Attention,” And So On
Why it’s important:
Not to annoy a user;To be more straightforward and economical with users’ time;Not to overuse their attention;Not to provoke anxiety.

Titles, written in bold and larger font sizes, grab users’ attention. Sometimes, titles are the only text users actually read. Titles stick better in their memory, so they must be understandable as a standalone text.

Titles like “One more thing” or “Almost there” might work well if they align with a product’s tone of voice and the flows where they appear are cohesive and can hardly be interrupted. But keep in mind that users might get distracted.

Use this quick check: set your design aside for about 20 minutes, do something else, and then open only the screen for which you’re writing a title. Is what happens on this screen still understandable from the title? Do you easily recall what has or hasn’t happened, what you were doing, and what should be done next?

Don’t Fall Back On Abstract Examples
Why it’s important:
To make the interface more precise and useful;To ease the navigation through the product for a user;To reduce cognitive load.

Some products (e.g., any B2B or financial ones) involve many rules and restrictions that must be explained to the user. To make this more understandable, use real-life examples (with specific numbers, dates, and so on) rather than distilling abstract information into a hint, tooltip, or bottom sheet.

It’s better to provide explanations using real-life examples that users can relate to. Check with engineers if it’s possible to get specific data for each user and add variables and conditions to show every user the most relevant microcopy. For example, instead of saying, “Your deposit limit is $1,000 per calendar month,” you could say, “Until Jan 31, you can deposit $400 more.” This relieves the user of unnecessary work, such as figuring out the start date of the calendar month in their case and calculating the remaining amount.

Try To Avoid Negatives
Why it’s important:
Not to increase cognitive load;To prevent friction.

As a rule of thumb, it’s recommended to avoid double negatives, such as “Do not unfollow.” However, I’d go further and advise avoiding single negatives as well. The issue is that to decipher such a message, a user has to perform an excessive logical operation: first eliminating the negation, then trying to understand the gist.

For example, when listing requirements for a username, saying “Don’t use special characters, spaces, or symbols” forces a user to speculate (“If this is not allowed, then the opposite is allowed, which must be…”). It can take additional time to figure out what falls under “special characters.” To simplify the task for the user, opt for something like “Use only numbers and letters.”

Moreover, a user can easily overlook the “not” part and misread the message.

Another aspect worth noting is that negation often seems like a restriction or prohibition, which nobody likes. In some cases, especially in finance, all those don’ts might be perceived with suspicion rather than as precaution.

Express Action With Verbs, Not Nouns
Why it’s important:
To avoid wordiness;To make text easily digestible.

When describing an action, use a verb, not a noun. Nouns that convey the meaning of verbs make texts harder to read and give off a legalistic vibe.

Here are some sure signs you need to paraphrase your text for brevity and simplicity:

Forms of “be” as the main verbs;
Noun phrases with “make” (e.g., “make a payment/purchase/deposit”);
Nouns ending in -tion, -sion, -ment, -ance, -ency (e.g., cancellation);
Phrases with “of” (e.g., provision of services);
Phrases with “process” (e.g., withdrawal process).

Make Sure You Use Only One Term For Each Entity
Why it’s important: Not to create extra cognitive load, confusion, and anxiety.

Ensure you use the same term for the same object or action throughout the entire app. For example, instead of using “account” and “profile” interchangeably, choose one and stick to it to avoid confusing your users.

The more complicated and/or regulated your product is, the more vital it is to choose precise wording and ensure it aligns with legal terms, the wording users see in the help center, and communication with support agents.

Less “Oopsies” In Error Messages
Why it’s important:
Not to annoy a user;To save space for more important information.

At first glance, “Oops” may seem sweet and informal (yet with an apologetic touch) and might be expected to decrease tension. However, in the case of repetitive or serious errors, the effect will be quite the opposite.

Use “Oops” and similar words only if you’re sure it suits your brand’s tone of voice and you can finesse it.

As a rule of thumb, good error messages explain what has happened or is happening, why (if we know the reason), and what the user should do. Additionally, include any sensitive information related to the process or flow where the error appears. For example, if an error occurs during the payment process, provide users with information concerning their money.

No Excessive Politeness
Why it’s important: Not to waste precious space on less critical information.

I’m not suggesting we remove every single “please” from the microcopy. However, when it comes to interfaces, our priority is to convey meaning clearly and concisely and explain to users what to do next and why. Often, if you start your microcopy with “please,” you won’t have enough space to convey the essence of your message. Users will appreciate clear guidelines to perform the desired action more than a polite message they struggle to follow.

Remove Tech Jargon
Why it’s important:
To make the interface understandable for a broad audience;To avoid confusion and ensure a frictionless experience.

As tech specialists, we’re often subject to the curse of knowledge, and despite our efforts to prioritize users, tech jargon can sneak into our interface copy. Especially if our product targets a wider audience, users may not be tech-savvy enough to understand terms like “icon.”

To ensure your interface doesn’t overwhelm users with professional jargon, a quick and effective method is to show the interface to individuals outside your product group. If that’s not feasible, here’s how to identify jargon: it’s the terminology you use in daily meetings among yourselves or in Jira task titles (e.g., authorization, authentication, and so on), or abbreviations (e.g., OTP code, KYC process, AML rules, and so on).

Ensure That Empty State Messages Don’t Leave Users Frustrated
Why it’s important:
For onboarding and navigation;To increase discoverability of particular features;To promote or boost the use of the product;To reduce cognitive load and anxiety about the next steps.

Quite often, a good empty state message is a self-destructing one, i.e. one that helps a user to get rid of this emptiness. An empty state message shouldn’t just state “there’s nothing here” — that’s obvious and therefore unnecessary. Instead, it should provide users with a way out, smoothly guiding them into using the product or a specific feature. A well-crafted empty message can even boost conversions.

Of course, there are exceptions, for example, in a reactive interface like a CRM system for a restaurant displaying the status of orders to workers. If there are no orders in progress and, therefore, no corresponding empty state message, you can’t nudge or motivate restaurant workers to create new orders themselves.

Place All Important Information At The Beginning
Why it’s important:
To keep the user focused;Not to overload a user with info;Avoid information loss due to fading or cropping.

As mentioned earlier, users have short attention spans and often don’t want to focus on the texts they read, especially microcopy. Therefore, ensure you place all necessary information at the beginning of your text. Omit lead-ins, introductory words, and so on. Save less vital details for later in the text.

Ensure Title And Buttons Are Understandable Without Body Text
Why it’s important:
For clarity;To overcome the serial position effect;To make sure the interface, the flow, and the next steps are understandable for a user even if they scan the text instead of reading.

There’s a phenomenon called the serial position effect: people tend to remember information better if it’s at the beginning or end of a text or sentence, often overlooking the middle part. When it comes to UX/UI design, this effect is reinforced by the visual hierarchy, which includes the bigger font size of the title and the accentuated buttons. What’s more, the body text is often longer, which puts it at risk of being missed. Since users tend to scan rather than read, ensure your title and buttons make sense even without the body text.

Wrapping up

Trying to find the balance between providing a user with all the necessary explanations, warnings, and reasonings on one hand and keeping the UI intuitive and frictionless on the other hand is a tricky task.

You can facilitate the process of creating microcopy with the help of ChatGPT and AI-based Figma plugins such as Writer or Grammarly. But beware of the limitations these tools have as of now.

For instance, creating a prompt that includes all the necessary details and contexts can take longer than actually writing a title or a label on your own. Grammarly is a nice tool to check the text for typos and mistakes, but when it comes to microcopy, its suggestions might be a bit inaccurate or confusing: you might want to, say, omit articles for brevity or use elliptical sentences, and Grammarly will identify it as a mistake.

You’ll still need a human eye to evaluate the microcopy &mdahs; and I hope this checklist will come in handy.

Microcopy Checklist

General

✅ Microcopy is role-playable (titles, body text, tooltips, etc., are your “phrases”; button labels, input fields, toggles, menu items, etc. are the user’s “phrases”).

Information presentation & structure

✅ The user has the exact amount of information they need right now to perform an action — not less, not more.
✅ Important information is placed at the beginning of the text.
✅ It’s clear to the user why they need to perform the action.
✅ Everything related to sensitive topics is always visible and static and doesn’t require actions from a user (e.g., not hidden in tooltips).
✅ You provide a user with specific information rather than generic examples.
✅ 1 microcopy item = 1 idea.
✅ 1 entity = 1 term.
✅ Empty state messages provide users with guidelines on what to do (when possible and appropriate).

Style

✅ No tech jargon.
✅ No excessive politeness, esp. at the expense of meaning.
✅ Avoid or reduce the use of “not,” “un-,” and other negatives.
✅ Actions are expressed with verbs, not nouns.

Syntax

✅ UI element copy doesn’t explain how to interact with this very element.
✅ Button label accurately reflects what happens next.
✅ Fewer titles like “done,” “almost there,” and “attention.”
✅ “Oopsies” in error messages are not frequent and align well with the brand’s tone of voice.
✅ Title and buttons are understandable without body text.

Headings

✅ The main article heading is an h1 — a level 1 heading. Use level 2 and level 3 headings to break up your text.

Images

✅ Standard images need to be at least 800px wide. We also have the option of full-width images for very detailed views. If using Dropbox Paper or Google Docs, add your images inline, but please also add them to the list at the end of this template so we can be sure we have them all in high-resolution format.

Original Source: https://www.sitepoint.com/top-wordpress-developer-plugins/?utm_source=rss

A review of top WordPress developer plugins in 2024 for crafting perfect websites, booking pages, and more.

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Essential Plugins for WordPress Developers: Top Picks for 2024
on SitePoint.

Original Source: https://abduzeedo.com/rocrea-furnitures-sustainable-and-elegant-branding-visual-identity

Rocrea Furniture’s Sustainable and Elegant Branding & Visual Identity

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Discover how Hosam.Brands redefined Rocrea Furniture’s branding and visual identity with sustainability and elegance.

Rocrea Furniture, a UK-based brand, merges sustainability and elegance in its designs. Known for its commitment to eco-friendly materials and methods, Rocrea creates handcrafted pieces that resonate with environmentally conscious consumers. This article delves into how Hosam.Brands revamped Rocrea’s branding and visual identity, aligning with the brand’s core values and market position.

Rocrea Furniture stands out for its dedication to sustainability and elegance. The brand’s philosophy is to create furniture that not only serves contemporary living needs but also preserves the natural beauty of materials. Each piece is handcrafted, combining traditional craftsmanship with modern aesthetics, ensuring versatility and eco-friendliness.

Understanding the vital connection between brand perception and success, Rocrea enlisted Hosam.Brands to overhaul their brand and visual identity. The objective was clear: to ensure the brand resonated deeply with its ethos and stood out in a competitive market.

The comprehensive approach aimed to create a cohesive and powerful visual identity that reflected Rocrea’s commitment to sustainability and elegance.

The Challenge

Rocrea’s primary challenge was to design a unique and sustainable dining table that appeals to eco-conscious consumers in the UK. The table needed to incorporate a blend of modern and traditional elements, be space-efficient for urban living, and utilize environmentally friendly materials and production methods.

The Solution: Eco-Blend Dining Table

To meet this challenge, Rocrea developed the “Eco-Blend Dining Table.” This innovative product exemplifies Rocrea’s values:

• Sustainable Materials: Made from reclaimed wood sourced sustainably within the UK.

• Space-Efficient Design: Features a modular design perfect for urban living spaces.

• Blend of Aesthetics: Merges traditional craftsmanship with modern design elements.

• Eco-Friendly Finishes: Uses environmentally friendly finishes for durability and aesthetics.

• Local Production: Produced locally to reduce carbon footprint, packaged with eco-friendly materials, and offered at a competitive price point.

Visual Identity Elements

1. Logo Design: The logo created by Hosam.Brands is both modern and timeless, reflecting the brand’s blend of contemporary and traditional styles. It is simple yet elegant, embodying Rocrea’s sustainable ethos.

2. Color Palette: Earthy tones dominate the color scheme, emphasizing Rocrea’s commitment to natural materials and eco-friendly practices. These colors create a warm and inviting feel, aligning with the brand’s aesthetic.

3. Typography: The chosen fonts are clean and sophisticated, enhancing the brand’s modern yet classic appeal. This typography supports Rocrea’s identity as a provider of elegant and sustainable furniture.

4. Print Design: Hosam.Brands ensured that all print materials, from business cards to brochures, reflected the brand’s core values and aesthetic. Eco-friendly printing techniques and materials were used to stay true to Rocrea’s sustainability mission.

Rocrea Furniture’s redefined branding and visual identity by Hosam.Brands successfully encapsulates the brand’s dedication to sustainability and elegance. The Eco-Blend Dining Table serves as a testament to Rocrea’s innovative approach to eco-friendly design. For a closer look at the project, visit Behance.

Branding and visual identity artifacts

For more information make sure to check out  hosam.brands

Original Source: https://ecommerce-platforms.com/articles/shopify-editions-winter-2024

As someone who works regularly with the Shopify platform, exploring features, reviewing apps, and even helping to build and optimize websites, I always look forward to the company’s bi-annual “Editions” event. Twice a year, Shopify’s “Editions” announcements give me an insight into the new innovations the brand is investing in, and its evolving strategy for enhancing ecommerce.

The last Shopify Editions’ event from Summer 2023 introduced us to the rise of Shopify Magic (and Sidekick), Shopify’s AI-powered tools for site development and growth. Plus, it highlighted the new Shop app for mobile shoppers, an enhanced admin interface and online store editor, as well as dozens of new tools and APIs for developers.

The Winter 2024 Editions event, taking place on January 31st, 2024, was just as exciting. Whether you’re a Shopify developer, store owner, or you’re simply interested in all of the unique new features Shopify has to offer, here’s your complete guide to the latest updates, for the start of 2024.

Key Takeaways:

Shopify’s conversion feature updates will give companies more freedom to sell and promote multiple variants of their products. They’ll also improve user experiences, through enhanced semantic search, and empower companies to sell more through bundles and subscriptions.

Shopify’s upgraded and extendible checkout experience will give companies more freedom to enhance the final point of the sales journey for customers. Organizations will also have access to new Shop Pay features, and checkout-focused apps.

Omnichannel updates on Shopify will enhance the in-store selling experience, with new Shopify POS features, and the powerful all-in-one Shopify Terminal. Plus, companies will be able to access more B2B sales tools, and advanced international sales features.

In the marketing space, Shopify is giving companies more tools for creating cross-channels campaigns, deeper insights into customer segments and audiences, and powerful solutions for tracking down collaborators and influencers.

New AI features in Shopify will simplify everything from photo editing, to page development, store creation, and sales optimization. Plus, companies will now have more advanced tools for automating workflows, and improving data privacy

What’s New in Shopify: Winter ‘24

Most Shopify Editions combine basic quality of life upgrades (like improvements to your Shopify dashboard and admin experience, with new features and capabilities). As we head into 2024, it seems like Shopify is investing heavily in positioning itself as the ultimate platform for scalable, omnichannel sales, with and flexible development.

To make it easier to understand the value of all the latest updates, I’m going to break them down into key sections. Feel free to skip to the segment that’s most relevant to you.

Shopify’s Conversion Feature Updates

To help boost retailer conversions in the increasingly competitive ecommerce world, Shopify has introduced various updates focusing on product merchandising, semantic search, store performance, and the already world-class Shopify checkout experience.

The Updates to Product Merchandising Tools

One of the most exciting “product merchandising” updates to emerge this year, was the new capability to create up to 2,000 variants of all your different products. In the past, you were limited to only 99 variants on Shopify. Now, there are new product APIs that give you complete control over offering your customers a range of options, with out creating endless separate listings.  

Currently, the GraphQL API is only available to select businesses, but it will be more accessible in the months and years ahead, giving you plenty of scope to scale your business.

On top of this, Shopify also introduced a “combined listings” app, which allows merchants to create product listings that combine all of the various variations of a products into a centralized product listing. Each variation can still have its own URL, image carousel, publishing controls, product description and title, to ensure every product stands out.

Plus, the updated taxonomy on Shopify means companies can now map each product category they offer to a range of associated attributes, making it easier to classify and organize products, and even generate variants automatically. Other updates include:

The ability to manage multiple variants at once with an updated variants card.

Flexible color and pattern swatches for every product listing.

A unified single file picker for videos, images, and 3D models on your product and variant pages.

The option to add new meta objects, or edit existing definitions for your metaobject-powered pages within the Shopify store editor.

Semantic Search and New Sales Experiences

Semantic Search is one of the most exciting new AI-powered storefront features on Shopify. The solution goes beyond basic “keyword matching” search tools, using intelligence to understand the intent behind each customer search. For instance, customers could simply search for “something warm for winter” to get a list of suggested products.

Companies can also add visual filters to swatches to filter the options customers see in search result pages and collection pages. Plus, you can customize your filter logic, to help customers find products that match various values. For instance, customers can search for jackets that are “short”, “insulated”, and “waterproof” at the same time.

Alongside the new search experience, Shopify is giving companies new ways to unlock additional revenue, with new sales strategies. For instance, the native Shopify Subscriptions app, which I reviewed here, is now generally available. It allows companies to increase customer lifetime value and unlock recurring revenue with customizable subscriptions. Plus, it’s available for free.

Companies can also access:

Shopify Bundles: While Shopify bundles were already a feature on the platform, the number of products you can offer in a bundle has now been increased from 10 to 30.

New discounts: Companies can now access a wide variety of new discounts to entice buyers, such as “automatic free shipping” for customers who spend a certain amount, or “buy X, get Y” promotions. Customers will also see exactly how much they’re saving in the cart.

An enhanced web performance dashboard: The new web performance dashboard integrated into Shopify helps companies to enhance customer experience with insights into three of the most important “Core Website Vitals” recognized by Google.

The Upgraded Shopify Checkout Experience

Shopify has boasted one of the most powerful and intuitive checkout experiences for years. However, many clients and companies I’ve worked with have lamented the fact that the checkout hasn’t been particularly customizable. Now, that could be starting to change.

Shopify has introduced 14 new APIs and UI components, to help Shopify Plus users create unique checkout experiences. The new checkout extensibility offerings may only be available to Shopify Plus vendors, but there are various other upgrades to the checkout to explore too, such as:

Shopify’s one-page checkout design is now the standard for the platform, reducing buyer completion times by up to 4 seconds, and accelerating loading speeds.

90+ new apps on the Shopify app store, specifically designed to enhance checkout interactions with upsells, loyalty programs, conversion tracking, and surveys.

New Shop Pay features, such as the ability to integrate Shop Pay with any checkout, and boost conversion rates with Shop Pay Instalments.

Checkout sheet kits: The checkout sheet kit allows companies to bring their own customized checkout experience directly into an ecommerce mobile app.

Thank you and order page extensions, available to customize with your brand logo, colors, font choices, headers, and images.

Shopify’s Omnichannel Updates

One of the main reasons why I often recommend Shopify as a top choice for ecommerce vendors, is that it’s so flexible. With Shopify you can sell through your own website, marketplace channels, social media platforms, and even in-person, with Shopify POS.

The introduction of Shopify POS Terminal in Shopify Editions Winter ’24 will further enhance in-store sales experiences, giving companies an all-in-one solution for accepting tap, chip, and swipe payments, capturing customer information, and showcasing their brand.

The POS offering also now includes:

The ability to manage UI extensions across various locations within the admin interface.

A streamlined smart grid editor in the admin interface.

Customizable receipts that match your brand image perfectly.

Access to fulfilment tasks and features within Shopify POS.

The option to attribute online sales to retail locations with “Send Cart”.

Shopify tax for managing taxes, cancelling, and voiding orders in Shopify POS.

Advanced security with new staff permissions and enhanced PINs.

Retail inventory transfers with the Stocky inventory transfers app extension

Shopify also made its Shopify POS Go hardware available to companies in the UK and Ireland this year, and even introduced a new feature that allows users to log out from devices remotely.

Shopify B2B Updates

If you’re running a B2B company on Shopify, you’re in luck. This year’s latest Editions’ event revealed a host of updates for B2B companies, including a brand-new theme, specially designed for B2B wholesale companies, and a new set of tools for staff permissions.

For instance, you can now determine which staff members should be able to place orders, view customer information and more for specific locations.

Shopify also introduced:

Headless B2B storefronts: You might already be familiar with Shopify’s tools for headless commerce, like the Hydrogen platform. Now, these tools are also available for B2B storefronts, allowing users to create unique experiences by combining Shopify’s ecommerce capabilities with bespoke front-end designs.

Shopify Collective: Shopify’s Collective solution allows companies to expand their product portfolio with access to thousands of third-party brands. You can narrow your search for marketplace partners using a range of filters for category, margins, free shipping, and more. And even track Shopify collective orders on a supplier timeline.

Marketplace connect: Shopify Marketplace Connect upgrades now allow companies to select inventory locations for each regional marketplace, and streamline the apparel listing process with automation tools.

Plus, Shopify just partnered with Faire, one of the world’s leading wholesale companies, to help brands reach new B2B customers through the Faire: Sell Wholesale app.

Shopify Markets Pro: Simplified international Selling

If you sell products internationally, you’re probably already familiar with Shopify Markets – one of my favorite tools offered by the company. Shopify Markets allows you to identify, setup, and manage international market experiences from a single store.

In Editions Winter ’24, Shopify announced the general release of Shopify Markets Pro, an upgraded version of Shopify Markets with even more automation, a merchant record of service, and exciting new features, like standard delivery options accessible through DHL, and USPS, and the option to “filter by market” in your Shopify analytics.

There’s also a newly improved search function in the “Translate and Adapt” app for Shopify Markets, that helps to give users a more streamlined shopping experience.

Other updates to the Shopify Markets experience include the ability to edit orders from the order detail page, to offer payment in multiple currencies and invoice buyers. You can also access the “fulfillable inventory” tool, to match your inventory location with your intended market.

Shopify Marketing Updates

Before the latest update, Shopify already offered companies a handful of impressive marketing tools and features, including an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) friendly web design experience, Shopify Inbox for customer communications, and Shopify Audiences.

Now, companies will also have access to:

Advanced Shopify Audiences features: Shopify has developed enhanced algorithms that maximize performance on top of ad platforms. Plus, Shopify allows companies to compare ad performance to similar stores and industry groupings in Shopify Audiences.

Upgraded Shopify Collabs: Store owners can now easily discover creators across social platforms from within Shopify, accessing new tools for brand reputation development and growth. You can also pay commissions on autopilot with Shopify billing, and create consolidated creator profiles for all of your partners.

Shop Campaigns: Shop Campaigns empowers companies to attract new customers across a range of channels. You can create advertising initiatives to attract customers on the Shop app, the web, and soon, Google and Meta too. Plus, Shopify offers real-time analytics and estimates to help you scale campaigns.

New “Shop” features also allow companies to create shoppable videos and product recommendation quizzes, and increase order conversions using new lead capture forms. There’s even an enhanced “Shop AI assistant”, that can deliver personalized recommendations to customers.

For social proof, companies can display reviews across a wider range of surfaces, like your online store, Shop app, and Shopify Collective. Plus, you can add a “verified by Shop” badge to your online store. On top of all that, there are even more powerful marketing integrations to access in the Shopify app store, which can sync data between multiple marketing channels.

What’s more, you can use historical and predictive spend metrics in your Cohort analysis reports to increase insights into customer lifetime value.

Shopify Operations Updates: AI Innovations

While there have been a number of updates to the “Operational” experiences offered by Shopify, the most exciting announcements for me are all linked to Shopify’s investment in artificial intelligence.

Since Shopify made waves in 2023 with Shopify Magic, it’s been exploring ever-more exciting ways to empower companies with intelligent tools. Companies can now transform product images and photography with AI, using text-based prompts to manipulate their visual content.

You can remove and replace backgrounds, update image quality, and more, all without any design skills. You can also use Shopify Magic to make creating content a lot quicker and simpler. Just ask the tool to write a page for your brand, such as an FAQ page, and tweak the responses as needed.

Shopify Sidekick is also better than ever, with more in-depth insights into your organization, so it can provide you with tailored advice relevant to your business.

Other Major Shopify Operations Updates

Alongside the addition of enhanced AI tools, Shopify has also introduced features like:

Advanced data privacy: Increase customer trust with privacy and consent management tools organized onto centralized pages within your Shopify admin.

Shopify lending: A flexible new lending portfolio, building on Shopify Capital, to give companies access to Line of Credit, Term loan, and Cash advance options.

Shopify Tax: Shopify’s US sales tax report can automatically streamline your tax filing tasks, adapting calculations to your specific state and filing period.

Shopify app updates: With the Shopify Ios and Android apps, companies can now access a widget for tracking store performance, and even create interactive 3D models of products.

Stronger Shopify Flow experiences: Shopify Flow, the company’s innovative automated workflow builder now has more templates, and allows companies to set up automated notifications for failed workflows.

Enhanced shipping and fulfillment: Shopify’s shipping and fulfillment tools now come with fulfillable inventory tools, always-on address validation, and more options to edit shipping costs and discounts on orders.

There’s also advanced “native exchanges” available in Shopify, to help companies create, track, and manage exchanges for any order in the admin dashboard. Plus, Shopify’s app store has been enhanced with AI recommendations that guide companies to the add-ons and integrations they might need.

Other Major Shopify Updates for 2024

Alongside all of the significant updates and announcements mentioned above, Shopify also revealed a range of impending enhancements for developers in the Shopify community. Since I’m not a developer, I didn’t want to focus too heavily on these updates. However, you can expect to see:

New theme blocks: New reusable and customizable theme blocks and block presets, designed to help developers rapidly build custom stores and even dashboards for monitoring ecommerce site performance.

Hydrogen updates: The headless Hydrogen developer experience is being enhanced with features like the Subrequest profiler for site optimization, and tools for tracking the source of code errors. Plus, there will be tokenized links, customer privacy APIs, runtime mirroring solutions, and the ability to upgrade Hydrogen projects from the Shopify CLI.

Greater extensibility: Developers will now be able to build extensions directly into new accounts with the same UI components as Shopify checkout, alongside extension APIs, new components, and external network calls.

Other updates include the new Store Credit API and Primitive, a more developer-friendly Shopify Flow experience, and new tools to help developers list and earn money from their apps.

Exploring the Incredible Updates from Shopify Editions

I always love analyzing the latest updates revealed in Shopify’s “Editions” events. This year, Shopify is releasing even more features and tools that will help companies increase their sales, upgrade their marketing strategy, and unlock new avenues of revenue.

At the same time, the Shopify building, and development experience is becoming simpler and more flexible, with the addition of enhanced tools, and artificial intelligence.

All of these updates indicate Shopify is still perfectly positioned to preserve its reputation as one of the top ecommerce and SaaS platforms for growing brands.

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